A Manassas City teenager accused of “sexting” a video to his girlfriend is now facing a search warrant in which Manassas City police and Prince William County prosecutors want to take a photo of his erect penis, possibly forcing the teen to become erect by taking him to a hospital and giving him an injection, the teen’s lawyers said. A Prince William County judge allowed the 17-year-old to leave the area without the warrant being served or the pictures being taken — yet.

The teen is facing two felony charges, for possession of child pornography and manufacturing child pornography, which could lead not only to incarceration until he’s 21, but inclusion on the state sex offender data base for, possibly, the rest of his life. David Culver of NBC Washington first reported the story and interviewed the teen’s guardian, his aunt, who was shocked at the lengths Prince William authorities were willing to go to make a sexting case in juvenile court.

“The prosecutor’s job is to seek justice,” said the teen’s defense lawyer, Jessica Harbeson Foster. “What is just about this? How does this advance the interest of the Commonwealth? This is a 17-year-old who goes to school every day, plays football, has never been in trouble with the law before. Now he’s saddled with two felonies and the implication that he’s a sexual predator. I don’t mind trying the case. My goal is to stop the search warrant. I don’t want him to go through that. Taking him down to the hospital so he can get an erection in front of all those cops, that’s traumatizing.”

This started when he was sent a picture by a 15 year old girl and reciprocated with a video of himself… use your imagination. For a mutual teenage quasi-sexual encounter, they want to traumatize this kid, ruin his life, and make him a registered sex offender.

Insanity. Not to mention the whole notion that these cops want to photograph a teenager’s erect penis is just disgusting. Everyone involved in this on the prosecution side should be immediately fired. I’m also wondering what race the two are, because if is a white girl and a black boy, it makes a whole lot more sense why this insanity is taking place.

https://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/balloon_juice_header_logo_grey.jpg00John Colehttps://www.balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/balloon_juice_header_logo_grey.jpgJohn Cole2014-07-09 15:25:262014-07-09 15:25:26When the Cops are Worse than the Criminals

Using child pornography laws against teenagers sending pictures to each other is so obviously insane that it would strain my suspension of disbelief if I encountered it in a novel. I mean, before it started happening in real life, that is.

Manassas City police and Prince William County prosecutors want to take a photo of his erect penis, possibly forcing the teen to become erect by taking him to a hospital and giving him an injection, the teen’s lawyers said.

This would be sickening if one overzealous junior Ken Starr crotch sniffer thought of it and was shut down by everyone around him in the office and then “encouraged” to take some time off, the fact that two law enforcement agencies went forward with this, that a fucking judge is taking it under consideration, is nauseating. IANan M.D., but I sure as hell wouldn’t give that injection.

I see shit like this all too often, as a family law attorney, but this particular case looks pretty tame. Where’s the abuse? But for the fact that BOTH of the parties are minors, this would be no big thang if they were adults.

So, let’s destroy this kid’s life fer shits ‘n’ giggles, shall we?

Wankers, every last one of them.

Did these fuckers forget what it was like to be a testosterone-addled teenager er what?

I think the boy should be slapped on the wrist. Then I think the prosecutors and any police officers who agreed to this plan should be placed in a pillory, pantsed, and spanked. The public will be asked not to bring cameras to the proceedings.

I don’t think race has much to do in this case. Wasn’t this the same state that charged the older girl in a lesbian relationship (it may not be, but the theory was similar)? I’ve heard about the state doing this before, using sexting pictures between children as child porn. Really? I’m pretty sure the ages of the source and recipient have to count.

If this goes to trial, the defending attorney only has to say something like “How would you, juror, like to have the mistakes you made as a kid follow you for the rest of your life, making people think you like to molest children?”

Jesus, how is traumatizing the kid via what is essentially sexual assault going to accomplish anything? While I understand how serious the transfer of that type of pictures and video can be, there needs to be a way of prosecuting it without subjecting teens to the lifetime of PTSD and social stigma the laws are supposedly preventing.

Foster [the teen’s lawyer] said Detective Abbott told her that after obtaining photos of the teen’s erect penis he would “use special software to compare pictures of this penis to this penis. Who does this? It’s just crazy.”

BJ highlights the insane stuff this country does on a daily basis, but offhand I can’t think of anything that tops this.

Foster [the teen’s lawyer] said Detective Abbott told her that after obtaining photos of the teen’s erect penis he would “use special software to compare pictures of this penis to this penis. Who does this? It’s just crazy.”

BJ highlights the insane stuff this country does on a daily basis, but offhand I can’t think of anything that tops this.

Foster said Detective Abbott told her that after obtaining photos of the teen’s erect penis he would “use special software to compare pictures of this penis to this penis. Who does this? It’s just crazy.”

A Manassas City teenager accused of “sexting” a video to his girlfriend is now facing a search warrant in which Manassas City police and Prince William County prosecutors want to take a photo of his erect penis …

It should be pointed out to the Manassas City police and Prince William County prosecutors that forcing the teenager to comply and taking a photograph of his erect p3nis makes them far more guilty of the same criminal charge – child pornography – than the child they’re prosecuting, plus adds in what amounts to sexual assault to their behavior.

This is grotesque and sadistic. How can so many people, ostensibly hired or elected to practice sound judgement, agree to pursue such an egregious, horrific, and traumatizing course of action?

I think if I was either attorney, as part of seating the jury I’d ask if they engaged in any kind of sexual activity prior to age 18, and dismiss them if they had. See how long it takes to impanel a jury holding the jurors to the standard being asked here.

@SatanicPanic: I thought of this as well. How Orwellian (Kafkaesque?) is it to attempt to prosecute a child for child pornography by having ADULT police officers and a medical doctor be complicit in actually CREATING child pornography – AND THEN PHOTOGRAPHING IT!!!!!?????

Is irony (and basic common sense and basic common decency) lost on these people!? Unbelievable!

@⚽️ Martin: Actually, I’d want people who admitted they had sex before 18. All the others are either lying, or I wouldn’t want those prudes deciding this case. (OK, I didn’t have sex before 18 and there’s no way I would convict this kid of anything but being a teenager, but I don’t feel like I am in any way representative).

@Belafon: I believe that was in Fla. Wish I knew whether the accused has come out of the process okay! (If we’re talking about the same case, it was something like… disapproving parents of the gf waited to spring a trap as soon as the openly-out gal came of age.)

This is ridiculous, and obscene. A waste of everyone’s time and money – much if it government money – over adolescent nonsense.

Save the pron enforcement for the fucks with pictures of kiddos on their computer. I know one of them, and his mummy and daddy have hired him (22yo) an attorney who’s letting them believe doofus might get probation because the pastor will come to sentencing along with a therapist. I’ve tried to suggest this is unrealistic, but they’re “optimistic” with the encouragement of counsel. And I’m just the pessimist who doesn’t even have a license to practice in that commonwealth. Where, I’m told by someone who should know, 80% of these kind of pron cases comes from Liberty U students.

Enough about my disgust. I’m embarrassed for everybody that law enforcement is pursuing a ridiculous instance of sexting as is it were pron. And I’m pissed.

As I understand it, most of the child porn laws have no loopholes for underage kids taking and sending pictures/videos of themselves to other, equally underaged kids. This is obviously stupid, but no politician wants to be the one to amend the laws because then they’re the adult who told the kids it was A-OK to have sex. So we end up with this criminal idiocy instead.

He’s underage, too — the “child pornography” he’s being charged with making is pictures of himself. Which makes me think, like some people above, that her parents have some influence with the prosecutors that his don’t.

I’m serious about the only good looking hookers trolling ‘hooker alley’ being cops.
Years ago, I took part in a local police ‘Citizen’s Academy’ and the lady cop giving the presentation on vice control was not only stunningly beautiful, a year later I saw her strolling up and down old US 41 (the local hooker alley).

It was all I could do to keep from pulling over and asking ‘how are you doing today, sergeant?’

@Paul in KY: ” If the kid (or his lawyer) stipulates that that is his erect member in the picture, then there would be no reason to ‘compare’.

Is the kid’s defense ‘Nuh-uh, that wasn’t me?”

Pretty much. Probably more like “Not guilty, and you can’t prove I did it”. He’d be a fool to do otherwise

Given that he’s being charged with two serious felonies, and facing several years of prison time as well as spending the rest of his life on the Sex Offender Registry, I strongly suspect that his actual defense is “I’m going to do everything in my power to get these charges dropped, such as going to the press and the internet”

That’s where it really hurts my head — a minor is being tried as an adult for taking naked videos of himself. How does that even work? He was an adult when he set up the camera but a minor when he stood in front of it? His hands are adult but his junk is still a minor?

It seems likely the video evidence is from his phone but doesn’t show his face. The alleged nude photos of his girlfriend may no longer exist, so the prosecutor might be going after the only conviction they think they can get.
The injection they would use can have some nasty side-effects, though it’s pretty rare.
Anyone joking about having an attractive female officer ‘help’ should be ashamed — sexual assault doesn’t stop being sexual assault just because the perpetrator is good looking.

I would think that the video evidence would contain plenty of evidence about type of device/time & date/sender account etc. This leads me to think that harassing the kid is sort of the goal the prosecutors are going for.

@MomSense:
A friend’s HS son got caught up in it when a disgruntled not-quite-girlfriend circulated some photos he’d sent her. Cop interrogations, juvenile court, probation, etc. etc. etc. Hugely messy and for exactly what? If I had a son there’d be “a talk.” Because I have a daughter there will be a talk, but much different.

I don’t think he sh should be slapped on the wrist, I don’t think he should be charged at all. Charding sending of child pron for sending pics of your 17 yr old self makes no sense; sending it solicited to your gf is equally defensible. There is a genuine problem with of sending and possessing actuall pics of young kids; there is no national problem of kids in their late teens sexting each other.

there is no national problem of kids in their late teens sexting each other.

Depends on your definition of “problem.” I’m guessing the reason this got out of hand in the first place is that the girl’s parents (and possibly the boy’s parents) flipped the fuck out at the realization that their innocent little babies were interested in S-E-X.

Those of us who think it’s normal and natural for late teenagers to be having sex with each other are unfortunately in the minority in this country, at least among adults.

@JGabriel: Unfortunately, the prosecutors could make their careers if they are successful. Goes back to those parents who are (probably) pushing for the legal action. Parents and prosecutors are, at times, irrational beings.

ETA: Just remember, that many people don’t believe their children should have one sexual thought until they get married. Period. No experimenting at all as a teen.

My oldest son considers it to be a courtship ritual it is so common. He hasn’t been caught up in it but only because he has been in a serious relationship for such a long time. My middle son received a lot of sexts–photos which he deleted. We were called in once to meet with the resource officer along with a bunch of other boys and their parents (separate meetings) because the family of a girl who had sent these sexts found them and was concerned.

Now, here is something important for parents. Do NOT look at the photos if you think or your teen tells you they received some sexts. Don’t have them send the photos to you.

Did these fuckers forget what it was like to be a testosterone-addled teenager er what?

Cult of Jesus devotees, best guess.

They make pathetic bed partners and worse adultshen it comes to knowing that kids are sexual.

Think about it like this – if you spend your time being a completely childish candy ass everywhere (golly gosh gee willikers, I so love My Personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), how do you go from that to begging your woman to stick her finger up your ass while she gives you head? Vice versa, how do you go from being the perfectly smarmy scolding mother to begging your man to pinch your nipples while you’re riding topside?

The quickest way to end this is for the defense attorney to call a press conference where she names the DA, the police officers, anybody else whose name is on that application for the warrant – but especially any elected officials – and then say “I have never seen a group of adult men so determined to look at a teenage boy’s penis.”

When they got the Internet where I work, we were all advised that it’s a giant bulletin board; assume that everything you put out there will be seen by the entire world. Words to live by, especially, it would seem, in Manassas, Virginia.

It seems to me that since kids take the Internet for granted, it would be hard to teach them to be wary, though, and then along comes some sadistic asshole to ruin the kid’s life. I hope the jury acquits him. (The kid, not the sadistic asshole.)

Prosecutors who get complaints from parents of girls often feel like they have to do something, often without regard for who the parents are (and some of them genuinely think this sort of thing ought to be prosecuted once in a while just to discourage it). What’s more likely is that nothing happens if the boy’s family is prominent; here, it sounds like the boy’s family is just a regular family.

The only reason I can think of that they would demand a photo for comparison purposes is that they can’t prove that it was child pornography without demonstrating that the photo is of him. (If, for instance, he sent a photo clipped from a random porn site, it wouldn’t be child pornography.) But their assumption that the earlier photo is, uh, reproducible may not be accurate, even with (or potentially because of) the use of artificial stimulants. Also, I’m going to guess that they won’t find anyone to testify that it’s him based on personal observation – I’m confident that the girl will never, ever do that even if she actually would be able to identify what she saw in the photo.

It’s worth noting that it’s fairly routine to get court orders for blood or DNA, but there’s no real medical risk in those cases. It sounds like there is some potential for side effects here, and that might have some influence on the ultimate decision. Of course, what they should do is just drop the case. It’s as silly as prosecuting teenagers for smoking.

The fuck is wrong with people? My parents always wondered why as a child I had no respect for adults, why as an adult I have no respect for people in positions of authority or anyone with a badge. It’s because of bullshit abuse like this.

At this point, it’s not the police — it’s the prosecutors. Overprosecution is a serious problem.

A couple of years ago, I ended up as the alternate on a jury that had to decide whether or not a woman should be convicted of trying to carry a weapon into a courthouse. The woman was a graduate student at Loyola Law School who was going to the courthouse to do research and had forgotten that she had a knife in her bag. It’s only a crime to bring a weapon to the courthouse if you do it on purpose. The prosecutor had NO motive and NO explanation for why she would have brought a knife on purpose. I honestly think it took longer to fill out the paperwork acquitting her than it did for the jury to come to the verdict. The whole thing should have been dropped immediately, but I think the prosecutor thought he would get an easy plea bargain and refused to drop the charges.

@dedc79: Manassas used to be full of disadvantaged Mexicans working menial jobs for the WASP Chamber types who were oh-so-super-Christian as they made sure you knew.

Manassas is also the PWC county seat so I hope the reporter didn’t conflate the location of the goings-on with the location of the courthouse. VA has some funky laws about cities not being in counties, and I think the courthouse is like inside Manassas but carved out as county land or … it makes my head hurt, lemme sit down.

Around 2000 when I lived there schools in PWC were desegregated and very diverse, at least in the Eastern end of the county, Manassas is in the western end, on I-66 instead of I-95. Have no idea what it’s like now but kind of pleasantly shocked to see it turn blue, it was helplessly red before. I had to vote libertarian to protest vote once.

ETA: I refuse to follow DailyFail links so I will remain ignorant of the accused’s ethnic background I suppose

Small correction — she was a graduate student at UCLA in social work who was working for a big muckety-muck at Loyola Law School for her research. That poor prosecutor had no idea what he’d brought down on himself, because her lawyer was really good for what the prosecutor probably assumed would be a small potatoes case.

It should be pointed out to the Manassas City police and Prince William County prosecutors that forcing the teenager to comply and taking a photograph of his erect p3nis makes them far more guilty of the same criminal charge – child pornography – than the child they’re prosecuting, plus adds in what amounts to sexual assault to their behavior.

Anyone joking about having an attractive female officer ‘help’ should be ashamed — sexual assault doesn’t stop being sexual assault just because the perpetrator is good looking.

Seconded. They’re talking about torturing and humiliating this boy in the name of some fucked up version of “justice”. That’s not humorous, it’s just gross.

I had a coworker who gave up his job rather than take a supervised piss test. There is way, wayyyyy too much history with white people taking liberties with black bodies here. It wasn’t a “I’m not on drugs let me prove it” it’s “this violates my privacy and I will NOT do this voluntarily”. And that was his job.

@Kyle: Many, but not all, states have laws clarifying such things and exempting young couples close in age from stat rape statutes.

It was a big issue in the gay press, back when there was a gay press, with states where they had such a law but for heterosexual couples only. Ohio sent an 18 year old to big boy prison for a year for consensual sex with his boyfriend. What do you want to bet he was terrorized and tortured in prison?

Think about it like this – if you spend your time being a completely childish candy ass everywhere

They were immature and childish as children, adolescents and now as adults. Thus, they can’t imagine that others can be mature and responsible. They project their selfishness and impulsivity on others. And they’re so shallow they think that their status depends on their kids, also, too. Like the honor killings they despise so much of them furrin satan worshippers.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out how the prosecutors can possibly believe that going after a 17-year-old who exchanges sexts with his 15-year-old girlfriend advances justice. This isn’t a case of a mature adult taking advantage of a minor, but is merely two teens acting the way teens act. Requiring him to undergo a medical procedure to get an erection is an obvious civil rights violation.

However, recognizing the outrage of this situation, and not that I’m suggesting that the prosecutors do so (which would only compound the outrage), why are they only prosecuting the boy? Didn’t the girl also engage in the send sexts to the boy as well? And, if they were put in that situation (e.g., if the boy’s mother made made a criminal complaint against her), might that prompt these idiot prosecutors recognize the stupidity of prosecuting teens for just being teens?

The Police has issued a statement adding a fact that seems missing. The boy continued to send the “sexts” after being asked to stop multiple times. … Having some guy send you pictures of their junk after you decided you didn’t want to see it anymore is just harmless fun, right?

It doesn’t merit forcing a medical procedure on a teenager just so they can photograph his genitalia in an erect position.

If the girl has asked for the sexts to stop, and he refused, the police and prosecutor can charge him as a minor with harrassment or exhibitionism or something appropriate and put him in juvie for a couple of months if deemed appropriate or necessary.

Searches and seizures have to be reasonable. That ought to be appealed. It’s absurd. there ought to be enough trace evidence (IP addresses, cell phone records, etc) to be able to figure out how to prove it without compromising the kid’s dignity. Of course, it’s VA, which borders NC. The crazy spreads north.

It’s called ‘black humor’ or if you prefer, ‘whistling while you walk past the graveyard’ humor.
If I haven’t made my disgust over the whole thing clear, I’ll clarify.

This is a charge and warrant that should never have been issued, much less approved by a judge and given the Federal legal age of 18 for pornographic pictures, the cops and judge involved are skating close to a Federal child porn violation.

And for a similar joke, Hustler publishes (published?) a mag titled ‘Barely Legal’.
Then there’s it’s lesser known sister publication called ‘Barely Able’, aimed at the senior market.

The Police has issued a statement adding a fact that seems missing. The boy continued to send the “sexts” after being asked to stop multiple times.

That may change the discussion some what, but I doubt it. Having some guy send you pictures of their junk after you decided you didn’t want to see it anymore is just harmless fun, right?

Um, nowhere does the Police statement say the girl asked him to stop, or wants him to stop. Given this originated with a complaint from her parents, I would think it highly probable they are the ones who’ve made this request, assuming the statement is accurate. But then I’m a guy. You might be willing to consider what I have to say, but I doubt it.

The Police has issued a statement adding a fact that seems missing. The boy continued to send the “sexts” after being asked to stop multiple times.

The statement they released is very vague and of course, all about what their position is, not the facts of the case. WHO asked him to stop many times? The mother? His girlfriend? As in “OMG STAAWP IT! LOL!” ? Mommy needs to check out her control issues, and unless this girl states that all this was unwanted attention that she absolutely did not want, the two of them need to go to family counseling. Where Mommy can learn about the art of letting go of your adolescent.

Seriously, as the mother of three boys and a girl–all of whom have had their brushes with things I really would have rather they NOT have done, this story made me crazy yesterday. We are criminalizing EVERYTHING in this country that up to now was rightly seen as stupid teen-age underdeveloped frontal lobe behavior. Worse than that, we are ruining the future lives of kids wth these trumped up charges and failure to use any discretion what-so-ever in applying them.

BTW, the kids are both white, the boy lives with a legal guardian who is his Aunt. I’m guessing they don’t have unlimited resources for legal advocacy. He apparently was appointed a guardian ad litem, so I’m guessing he has a public defender. This case started in juvenile court but due to a paperwork error failing to certify they boy was a juvenile, the charges were dropped. The DA picked them up again and and took them to adult court, just for shits and grins one supposes.

This kid needs some big guns, though, because what it seems like they’re trying to do is get him to cave and plead guilty by threatening to outright sexually assault him otherwise. I’d love to see some big name attorney take his case.

They are charging him with manufacture and possession of child pornography – not with sending dirty pictures after being asked to stop. If they were charging him with sending dirty pictures after being told to stop, he’d be the clear and obvious bad guy in this situation, and no one would be talking about it. They also wouldn’t need pictures of his genitalia (erect or not) to advance their case.